LAKE WALES, Fla. – After dropping both ends of a doubleheader to kick off their 2016 on Saturday, Lesley University bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of Medaille College on Sunday afternoon at Warner University in Lake Wales, Florida.
Lesley won game one by a score of 4-2 over Medaille before using a four-run sixth inning in game two to take a 7-2 victory. The Lynx improve to 2-2 on the season and take a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Mavericks.
The Lynx will be off on Monday and return to the diamond on Tuesday morning with a doubleheader against the University of Minnesota Morris.
Game One: Medaille 2, Lesley 4
Box Score
The Lynx would strike first in the second inning. Junior Mike Slaby (Foxboro, Mass.) doubled and moved to third one a single by sophomore Justin Clark (Chino Hills, Calif.). Slaby would then cross the plate on a sacrifice-fly by freshman Jacob Cervantes (Oxnard, Calif.) to give the Lynx a 1-0 lead.
After breaking a scoreless tie with a run in the second inning, the Lynx used some timely two-out hitting to push across three more in the third. Freshman Nick Ferragine (Randolph, N.J.) took advantage of a Medaille miscue and reached on a throwing error to spark the offense. Senior Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) smacked a double to move Ferragine to third before the rookie would cross the plate on a wild pitch. Slaby followed with an RBI single and then scored all the way from first on a double by Clark as Lesley opened a 4-0 advantage.
The Mavericks cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the sixth, but Lesley rookie Nick DeGrenier (Marshfield, Mass.) stranded a runner on second base with a ground ball and fly out to end the inning.
DeGrenier was excellent on the mound in his debut, not allowing a hit until the fourth and throwing six strong innings before giving way to sophomore Jeff Heinz (Portsmouth, N.H.) in the seventh who earned the first save of his career. DeGrenier was charged with just one earned run and struck out three in his debut.
Game Two: Lesley 7, Medaille 2
Box Score
Lesley jumped ahead out of the gate once again as Ferragine opened the game with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice by Gustavo Polidor (Caracas, Venezuela) and came around one batter later on a single by Slaby.
Medaille would even the score at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first and took advantage of a pair of Lynx errors to take a 2-1 lead after two.
Slaby was in the middle of the action once again in the third as he knocked a one-out single, stole second and crossed the plate on a single by freshman Jacob Cervantes (Oxnard, Calif.) as the Lynx evened the score at 2-2.
Lesley gave themselves some breathing room in the top half of the sixth. Cervantes was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved into scoring position on a ground out before fellow freshman Vin Taliercio (Valley Stream, N.Y.) would knock in Cervantes with a single.
Freshman Matt Bavaro (Sayville, N.Y.) would reach on an error in the Mavericks infield and, one batter later, the Lynx would load the bases with a Polidor walk. A second Medaille error brought in two more Lesley runs before Slaby capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI single.
Lesley would add one more insurance run in the seventh with a Bavaro sacrifice-fly and go on to win by a score of 7-2.
Rookie right-hander Jack Snyder (Shrewsbury, Mass.) gave the Lynx a fantastic outing in his first start of his college career. Snyder went five innings, scattering eight hits, two runs, and two walks while striking out four. Heinz came in for the second straight game to close the door with two scoreless innings.